Ramar of the Jungle

Ramar of the Jungle was a syndicated American television series (1952–1954) that starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds[1] (the titular “ramar,” an African title for a white medicine man) and Ray Montgomery as his associate, Professor Howard Ogden. Episodes were set in Africa and India.

Actor Jon Hall created the series, and starred in it, obviously trying to emulate the then-popular "Jungle Jim" movies. Produced by Rudolph Flothow for Arrow Productions and ITC Entertainment, four sets of 13 episodes were produced, for a total of 52. Each episode runs approximately 25 minutes. In season one, the first 13 episodes are set in Africa and the second 13 are set in India. In the second season, all 26 episodes take place in Africa.

Several television episodes were later combined and released as theatrical movies by producer Leon Fromkess.[2]

Alpha Video [3] has released 11 Ramar DVDs, containing a total of 44 of the 52 episodes. There are eight episodes which have not been released by Alpha.

Episodes

Movies

Four movies were made by combining three sequential episodes, each trio with a single, serialized story, which were distributed by Lippert Pictures in the USA and Eros Films in the UK:

  • White Goddess (1953)
  • Eyes of the Jungle (1953)
  • Thunder Over Sangoland (1955)
  • Phantom of the Jungle (1955), combines an unidentified setup episode with "The Golden Tablet" and "The Flaming Mountain" to tell the story of a young woman scientist (played by Anne Gwynne) searching for her lost archaeologist father with the help of Ramar, Prof. Ogden and Willy-Willy.


In addition, seven movies were made for television viewing:

  • Ramar and the Burning Barrier (1964, ITC, 82 minutes, b&w)
  • Ramar and the Deadly Females (1964, ITC, 80 minutes, b&w)
  • Ramar and the Jungle Secrets (1964, ITC, 81 minutes, b&w)
  • Ramar's Mission to India (1964, ITC, 80 minutes, b&w)
  • Ramar and the Savage Challenges (1964, ITC, 83 minutes, b&w)
  • Ramar and the Hidden Terrors (1964, ITC, 83 minutes, b&w)
  • Ramar and the Jungle Voodoo (1964, ITC, 78 minutes, b&w)

Merchandising

Ramar's popularity in not only its initial run but syndication led to a wide variety of tie-in toy guns, comic books, board games, costumes, iron-on shirt transfers, jigsaw puzzles and playsets.

Jimmy Buffett referenced this show in his song "Pencil Thin Mustache" in the verse, "Ramar of the Jungle was everyone's bwana, but only jazz musicians were smoking marijuana."

References

  1. ↑ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television. Penguin Books USA, Inc. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8. P. 683.
  2. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 11. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2014-11-23.
  3. ↑ http://www.oldies.com
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